I showed up to find out that there was no "match" going on.. it was a qualifier (yeah right, whatever that means....)

Turns out is meant that I was establishing the level at which I would compete in the future.... Oh great.. I also found out pretty quickly that it was unusual for someone to qualify without ever having tried IDPA before...

Fine, I can handle it... 20 yards ?? HUh? What is defensive about shooting at 20 yards ??

The IDPA qualifier course is a standard 90 round 3 stage course designed to put you in a class of competition for local, regional, state and national matches. The first stage was primarily close range, mulitple target stuff, with reloading and weakhand work thrown in.

The second stage included some movement, but he ranges were still defensive in nature.

The third stage was the killer as far as I was concerned..... It involved shooting from 20 yards behind cover, strong side and weakside...

Being far too fast for my own good in everything I have ever tried (except sex and race car driving), I continued my life-long anxiousness and felt ratehr humble after my first run. I was doing okay until the last stage.. then I barely qualified Marksman...

They are five divisions of weapons in IDPA, and I was qualifying each division. Every time it was the same.. even after I made myself slow down.. I was on track for an easy Sharpshooter or a possible Expert after the first two stages.. then I got to the third and WHAMMO!...

I ended qualifying Sharpshooter in two divisions and marksman in three. The group assure me that I did good for my first time, but I was disappointed big time.

For the most part, they seemed to enforce the rules and the rules seemed to be geared towards tactical realities.. at least as much or more than any other sanctioned competitive event I had ever been in. One other novice showed up with a holster that was clearly not appropriate and they let him shoot.. and didn't make him use the retention strap, which sorta irked me, especially since the guy could shoot just fine.. so be it... He'll pay for it when he has to compete under the rules, I guess.